Your Life Rites Team

 

For authentic end-of-life, funeral and bereavement care

End-of-life practices, rites and ceremonies help individuals, couples and families move through times of significant change. The Life Rites team have the experience and skill to ensure the choices you make will lay the best foundation for honouring your person and supporting healthy grieving. 

Each team member contributes deeply informed experience to the Life Rites philosophy of holistic end-of-life care. 

Life Rites is committed to ongoing cultural change and refinement of our death rites; building collaborative and educational relationships across the healthcare, the funeral industry, the cultural, creative and community sectors.

Click here to see some behind-the-scenes images of the team in action.

 

Victoria Spence

Founder and Director of Life Rites; Celebrant, Counsellor, Holistic Funeral Director, Mortality Doula

Victoria is a holistic funeral director, celebrant, mortality doula, counsellor and pioneer of Life Rites’ model of integrated end-of-life and after-death care. 

With a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Philosophy, and two decades in the cultural industries, a Masters in Death, Dying and Palliative Care and training in mind-body somatic modalities, Victoria brings 35 years of unique experience to her work in the creation of Life Rites, and the holistic, hands on and potent re-creation of our death and funeral rites. 

Alongside her work in Rites of Passage, she was one of the team that created  Picnic Among Friends, a decade long, yearly community memorial event that invited people to bring their own creativity to how they live with love and loss. She co-created the Sydney Festival of Death and Dying (2015-17- ongoing ) with Dr Peter Banki, The Dusk Ceremonies at the Elephant House with Rookwood Necropolis.

Read more about Victoria and her work:

Sydney Morning Herald
Dumbo Feather

Aunty Rhonda Dixon Grovenor

  • As a much loved and respected member of her communities, Aunty Rhonda works tirelessly for human rights and social justice. She is a disability advocate and leading force in climate justice, as well as a daughter, mother, grandmother, mentor, elder and friend to many. Aunty Rhonda works diligently to heal Mother Earth and redress power and wealth inequities across society, and is currently completing her Masters at UTS in decolonising methodologies and how to respectfully engage with traditional custodians.

    Aunty Rhonda works in healing ceremony at Life Rites, The Dusk Ceremonies at The Elephant House at Rookwood Cemetery and Picnic Among Friends.

Skye Robertson, Celebrant, End of Life Doula & Holistic Funeral Director

Skye Robertson

  • Skye’s background spans practice managing in the mental health space, a wealth of planning and attention to detail through event management and twelve years with a ceremony focus celebrating threshold moments, unions, endings and new beginnings. And then the death of someone close to her came four times in four years and changed her forever.

    Walking into that fragile place where the freedoms of an independent body and mind slipped away was heart-breaking, and also a privilege. Saying goodbye and honouring life in all its joy and sadness set her on a new path. Leading our Central Coast care centre as well as practicing in Sydney, Skye is now a holistic funeral director, celebrant, ceremony facilitator and end-of-life doula - and she also co-manages operations at Life Rites.

    She believes that a good ceremony is one that is right for you. May it be healing, uplifting, joyous, reverent and tender to the deep sadness of what you have lost and what you have found. May it be a ceremony with heart.

Ben Gibson

  • Through the deeply personal and community-focused experience of honouring the life of a dear friend who died too soon, Ben was shown a new way of approaching death, grief, and loss. This experience highlighted the transformative power of rituals and holistic support in guiding communities through healing. It was at this point he felt his calling to show up for others during these sensitive times and began learning everything he could to share that knowledge and be part of the change in how we respond to death.

    Ben has always been unique and somewhat outside the box, whether through his previous careers, hobbies, identity and sexuality as a gay man, relationships, mental health experiences, or where he fits in this world. All these aspects of his life have shaped who he is today and what he brings to others. 

    The combination of roles as a Funeral Director, Celebrant, and End-of-Life Doula, allows for a continuum of care throughout the end-of-life experience. Traditionally, this role has been occupied by women who provide a genetically maternal approach. Gender can influence how individuals respond to death through coping mechanisms and emotional expression. Alongside his years of experience and capacity in these roles, Ben brings a commitment to developing the culture, literacy, and understanding of masculinity in relation to ways of meeting death, grief, and loss. 

Jude Neeme-Samson

  • Over the past 30 years Jude has taught, practiced and trained in ceremony in diverse cultural settings ranging from classic religious communities to Indigenous, shamanic, druidic and multicultural contexts. Jude brings with him both deep listening and illuminating questions to guide you towards finding what is best suited to your situation.

    They help craft ceremony that will work best for you and those in your life. Their wealth of experience provides a creative foundation for your journey with Life Rites.

Kim Somerville

  • Kim is an End of Life Doula, Holistic Funeral Director and leads our Home Vigils. A former Palliative Care nurse of 25 years, she has also worked in Aged Care and Community Nursing, along with being a support carer, nanny and medical receptionist. Her training, experience and calm, gentle manner allow Kim to tenderly support the ageing process or those living with a terminal illness and continue through to end of life and the dying journey.

    Kim believes in delivering optimal support for the individual, their family and loved ones, ensuring that people are given all the information and resources they need to make their own informed decisions. Drawing on her extensive experience Kim is able to confidently guide those wishing to die at home. She can facilitate difficult conversations around end of life, death and funeral care and is very comfortable being present with families and friends as they farewell and tend to their loved one. Her doula care has also expanded into the area of supporting parents and families with the heartbreaking loss of a child. This includes pre-term/ stillborn babies, infants and older children.

    Kim loves sharing her passion and commitment through frequent involvement in community education sessions, Dying To Know Day events, Death Cafes, hospital in-services and in-house training with her wonderful Life Rites colleagues.

Vicki Melson

  • Vicki is a mortality doula, funeral assistant and after death carer.

    Vicki comes from a background of deep body care having worked as a remedial masseuse and aromatherapist for over 30 years. The transition of body care from the living to the dead comes very naturally to Vicki. She works intuitively and with deep respect, empathy, and kindness for all humans. Vicki is very good at sitting in a space of discomfort. Her communication skills are strong, and she is practical and non judgemental.

    As a person with lived cancer experience, Vicki has a deep passion for equipping yourself with knowledge, advocating for your rights, and finding that nugget of gold in the darkest of places.

    Vicki completed her doula training with “Preparing the Way” in 2022. In 2008 she completed an Arts degree in English and Film at Sydney University. She completed her Aromatherapy Diploma at Australasian College of Natural Therapies in 1994. Prior to that she lived in the United Kingdom, worked as a Graphic Designer, and studied Typography at London College of Printing.

    She is very happy to be an Australian citizen and lives on Gadigal land.

Chantel Jurcevic smiling joyfully next to colourful flowers at the Life Rites chapel

Chantel Jurcevic

  • Hi, I'm the socials human and ceremonial & AV attendant at Life Rites. In my socials role, I draw on storytelling and visual practices, and connecting community/ies. As AV and ceremonial attendant, I have the privilege of hearing communities' stories and supporting the ceremonial aspects they've crafted—the music and images that families often put much thought and heart into—to come to life. In this role there is much to learn and observe about crafting and weaving the membrane of ceremony.

    I have lifetime experience caring for people experiencing mental distress and chronic illness, including end-of-life care. After 5 years working as a family peer worker within the public mental health service, I bring radical perspectives on madness, including generative critiques and knowledge on trauma-informed practices and recovery-oriented principles, reflections on solidarity, and insights into spiritual pain (aka burnout). I sometimes offer solidarity and consultation on these aspects of Life Rites practices. I speak Spanish and come from a Latinx mixed medley family, and this deeply informs my practice and capacity working with families.

    I'm an artist and dancer, in somatic Body-Mind Centering training—a practice that runs alongside and affirms and sustains this work. I'm committed to social justice practice, and am interested in exploring how the dignity, integrity and compassion that are central to Life Rites—and the alive system and legacy crafted and tended here over time—can be extended to people with least access to these experiences. Working at Life Rites is spiritually and materially fulfilling.

Sonja Godfrey-Chan

  • Sonja is an end-of-life doula, holistic funeral director, celebrant, meditation teacher and NSW Justice of the Peace. From a long career in federal government with an Honours degree in Industrial Relations and Asian Economic History, a Masters in Labour Law, and many years working in the equity and diversity space, Sonja experienced a profound life shift when her mother passed in 2000 and this led to her renewed journey along the Dhamma, dying and death pathway. With over 30 years of Buddhist practice including specific dying and death training from her teacher Reverend Mahinda, Sonja brings calm, peace and practicality to the end-of-life experience for both the individual and their family. Doula-led care enables people to navigate their end-of-life path without fear and worry and this is Sonja’s ultimate aspiration. She is also passionate about ensuring that any beloved furry friends are not forgotten and plans put in place so they can continue to be cared for and loved.

    Sonja is a trained Biography Writer and can assist you to gather all the intricacies of family history including the tall tales and truths, photos and recipes, music and video images. Sonja is also a trained Dementia Doula who can support people diagnosed with dementia and help their families traverse the challenges ahead. Sonja is also undertaking a Masters of Counselling in grief and bereavement.

Pat Joyce

  • For me, joining Life Rites was a natural progression following my roles in nursing, aged care advocacy, and as a trained art therapist. I am privileged to have listened to people’s amazing life stories, whether an ordinary or extraordinary life, and to be there with them to witness major life events and to see their courage in making decisions which affect them. And I am privileged to assist in caring for their bodies.

    I am very comfortable sharing experiences of grief, forgiveness, change, celebration of life, and I am passionate about having conversations around preparing for death.

    To make a time for an information session, including in aged care settings, do contact us to make a booking.